Denon DHT-217 Dolby Atmos Soundbar with Bluetooth connectivity, Dialogue Enhancer, and 4K UHD HDMI Input

Product Information

I also hate them precisely because they are not discrete multispeaker systems and, despite the increasingly clever and effective digital signal processing used in the best soundbars, they cannot fully compete with such. Just to be clear, the Bluetooth option is certainly good if you really need it, and the DHT-S217 would rate highly as a Bluetooth-only speaker. That said, if you can stream your tunes over HDMI via a music app, you should. Does the Denon DHT-S217 support DTS?

Like most soundbars, the DHT-S217 includes a remote-learning feature that lets it “map” its remote’s commands to the keys of another controller – typically, your TV’s. Control-over-HDMI is also enabled, which will achieve the same purpose with most modern TVs without the “learning” process – most people will use this, since it means you'll have control of the soundbar from your TV's remote the moment it's plugged in. Without even having to touch the soundbar’s EQ adjustments, dialogue was rendered crystal-clear, with gunshots, car engines, and other low-frequency phenomena given the attention needed by the internal woofers. And for our mid-sized apartment living room, the S217 did a great job bouncing sound around the walls and ceiling for surround simulation, while keeping the most crucial audio (particularly dialogue) center stage. The DHT-S217 doesn’t come with up-firing drivers that bounce Dolby Atmos height cues off your ceiling; instead, the soundbar uses virtualization to achieve its height effects, as do many other budget-priced and Atmos-enabled soundbars. How well does the Atmos virtualization work? We’ll get to that in a moment. Are you looking to upgrade your TV sound with an affordable all-in-one that offers Dolby Atmos sound? The new Denon DHT-S217 says it's up to the task. IV1, IV2, IV3, IV4, IV5, IV6, IV7, IV8, IV9, IV10, IV11, IV12, IV13, IV14, IV15, IV16, IV17, IV18, IV19, IV20, IV21, IV22, IV23, IV24, IV25, IV26, IV27, IV28, IV29, IV30, IV31, IV32, IV33, IV34, IV35, IV36, IV37, IV38, IV39, IV40, IV41, IV42, IV43, IV44, IV45, IV46, IV47, IV48, IV49, IV50, IV51, IV52, IV53, IV54, IV55, IV56, IV57, IV58, IV59, IV60, IV61, IV62, IV63, IV64, IV65, IV66, IV67, IV68, IV69, IV70, IV71, IV72, IV73, IV74, IV75, IV76, IV77, IV78, IV79, IV80, IV81, IV82, IV83, IV84, IV85, IV86, IV87, IV88, IV89, IV90, IV91, IV92, IV93, IV94, IV95, IV96, IV97, IV98, IV99

Although the DHT-S217 doesn’t come with a manual equalizer, it does offer a choice of four sound modes (Movie, Night, Music, and Pure). The Pure Mode bypasses all surround processing and other adjusted characteristics for, as Denon puts it, “the most audiophile listening experience”. The unit is labeled as a 2.1 sound bar with Bluetooth and integrated down-firing subwoofers so at least Denon has labeled it for what it is. As for surround and spatial effects, I heard disappointingly little of either. Relative to the Music mode, Movie made the sounds a little wider and a shade taller, but these effects were far from dramatic and nothing like the “bubble” of ambience the best Dolby Atmos soundbars can achieve. This absence of front-facing sound was also notable in a few other movies, TV shows, and games, and even the S217’s dialogue emphasis setting did little to rectify things. In the vast majority of cases we will not be able to install the cabinet doors to built-in laundry products as the fittings very rarely match up. We will try our best however if we are unable to do this we will still install connect to plumbing and put the appliance in situ.

Easily stream your favourite music directly from your smart device to your sound bar via Bluetooth. The Movie listening mode proved very similar, but with a bit more bass emphasis and a little boost to the voice range to enhance dialogue. On a related note, the remote’s Low/Medium/High Dialog Enhancer control can really push voices to the fore, especially at the High setting. Inside the main soundbar cabinet is a pair of 1-inch front-facing tweeters, a couple of of 3.5 x 1.6-inch rectangular midrange speakers behind a fabric grille, and two surprisingly effective down-firing 3-inch subwoofers. Any extended warranties offered by Peter Tyson are free. We do not include any form of insurance terms such as accidental damage or loan equipment cover. There’s a selection of sound modes to choose from (Movie, Night, Music, and Pure), with the Pure mode bypassing all types of processing to deliver the most audiophile sound performance. Listeners who struggle to hear every word have the Dialog Enhancer feature at their disposal, adjusting the level of dialogue without changing the overall volume setting.

3D audio with Dolby Atmos

The Movie, Night, and Music sound modes plus a Pure option that routes sound through completely unprocessed are selectable via the supplied small remote control, as are Volume and Bass up/down button pairs and direct input-select keys for each physical input plus Bluetooth wireless. In total, this 2.1-channel sound system provides you with six speakers. On the right and left side of the soundbar, you will find a 3.5″ x 1.6″ midrange speaker, both supported by a 1″ tweeter. Compared to the competition, Denon relies on two integrated and downward-pointing subwoofers instead of an external and wireless subwoofer. The Dolby Atmos immersive audio format is supported, as mentioned earlier. This adds 3D sound to the spatial sound in your living room. However, DT:S and DT:S Virtual are not available compared to the predecessor. Of course, there are weaknesses in terms of sound and performance in soundbars in the (rather) cheap range of up to 300€. Simple setup - Easy setup with a single HDMI connection to your TV using Enhanced Audio Return Channel (eARC).

At a scant 2-inches in height, the Denon DHT-S217 can be placed in front of the TV without obstructing the bottom edge of the display or it can be easily wall mounted. It's pretty cool that Denon created an affordable, easy to set up, one Two keyhole slots on the rear surface facilitate on-wall mounting when used with the included mounting pads. Foot-pads on the bar’s bottom lift it a half-inch or so and provide clearance for both the down-firing “subwoofers” and the input and power connections (also located on the bottom as is usual with super-slim soundbars). With two built-in down firing subwoofers, dual mid-range drivers and tweeters, you will enjoy an amazing movie and TV show audio experience when you upgrade to Denon premium-quality sound. There’s no Wi-Fi, which means no HEOS for music streaming, but users will be able to stream from a mobile device through the soundbar’s Bluetooth connection. Physical ports include HDMI eARC for passing Atmos sound to the soundbar, along with a HDMI input (for plugging any source directly into the bar), digital optical out, a subwoofer output (in case you do want to add more bass) and an analogue input.

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The DHT-S217 is labeled as Dolby Atmos certified, but with just a single midrange and tweeter for each side of the speaker, I would be hard pressed to believe this without hearing it. Denon says that the DHT-S217 comes with an “unmatched immersive 3D audio experience”. That seems like quite an embellishment to say the least. But there are laptops now claiming Dolby Atmos sound these days so the name has become a bit watered down to broaden product inclusion.

But – and with soundbars there are always “buts”– though the Denon’s sound was clear and intelligible, male voices took on a very mild “honky” cast. More significant was the disconnect between the bar’s bass and its reproduction of mid-range and treble frequencies. Overall, I found casual music listening with the Denon to be enjoyable. Its sound was full and reasonably balanced, with enough bass extension to render most music genres with satisfactory depth. CA1, CA2, CA3, CA4, CA5, CA6, CA7, CA8, CA9, CA10, CA11, CA12, CA13, CA14, CA15, CA16, CA17, CA18, CA19, CA20, CA21, CA22, CA23, CA24, CA25, CA26, CA27, CA28. Streaming Bonnie Raitt’s latest release, Just Like That (via ChromeCast to my Sony TV’s HDMI output), I heard a mostly natural rendition of her familiar voice, and there was enough bass (though still a bit boomy and disconnected) to easily follow the musical thread even through the lower notes. When I compared the Denon to a pair of powered speakers some eight times its modest cost, the contrast was obvious, with the far more expensive speakers sounding deeper, fuller, and more open in the midrange, and also with a sparkle that the Denon only hinted at – but not embarrassingly so.Inside are dual down-firing subwoofers, which look to reduce the need for a separate subwoofer, with a pair of “high-performance” midrange drivers and tweeters designed to deliver an immersive 3D performance. As there’s no mention of any upward-firing drivers, we expect Atmos sound via digital processing.